By now, the Arrowhead developers have become known for sneakily adding unannounced changes/items when they issue a patch. Most recently, with the patch issued on March 18, the devs added a new Factory Strider variant, as well as the “Intercept the Convoy” side Objective. However, players have just noticed that something else was added. Apparently, the Helldivers 2 devs also added a new gas effect that has players spinning out of control, literally.
What Is the New Gas Effect?
Have you noticed that, since the latest patch, your Helldiver acts incoherently for a moment when you get gassed? Well, as it turns out, the new gas effect inverts the controls for 1,5 seconds. Doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but it can end up costing you your life.
At first, the players thought the gas grenades were nerfed, and there was some sort of recoil, however, they soon realized that the effect was sneakily added. With the recent addition of the Gas Mines, Helldivers 2 players will have a hard time getting used to this effect.
One Helldivers 2 YouTuber, Some Dude, recorded the effect. They also suggested a way to “deal” wit it. Basically, if a Helldiver dives, they can carry on unaffected, as the dive lasts longer than the effect.
Many players noticed that even the Helldivers in Gas Armor are affected. Of course, the players had a lot to say about this. CR00T_R0M noted: “This is just a bad change. Gas armor is already super weak compared to the other element armors with no natural enemies, and doesn’t help against acid which it’s implied to be created for lore wise. With all these weaknesses, why add something RELATED TO GAS that the armor doesn’t protect against? This is a lot of words to just say, please make gas armor ignore the inverted controls”.
Veteran Helldivers Have Experienced This Effect, But Not From Gas
Now, the veterans of the first installment of the game have already been aware of this effect. One of the Illuminate units that still hasn’t made its way to Helldivers 2, the Illusionist, used to have this effect.
One of the most prolific Helldivers 2 leaker, IronS1ghts, noted: “Interesting. This is actually using the Illuminate confusion effect. It’s the same effect inflicted by the illusionist”.
They added: “The Illusionist has this confusion effect, along with a “Reverse Aim Assist” effect, which will guide your crosshair away from enemies when aiming at them. Reverse Aim Assist was not working last time I used it, but it’s still worth mentioning”.
Maybe the devs are testing the effect before the rest of the Illuminate roster arrives? Or, maybe they scrapped the Illusionists and decided to repurpose the effect? No-one can tell for sure (except for the devs), but beware of the gas for the time being.
We’d suggest concentrating on the Major Order in the meantime. Even though the changes on the bot front made it fun, the players failed the Bekvam III gambit. The only way to salvage this MO is for all Helldivers to dive on the bug front and squish as many bugs as they can. We’ll meet you there. For Liberty and Super Earth.
